Sightlines

Editing--plants and pictures

Saturday, April 29, 2006.  It occurs to me that gardening has much in common with taking pictures. I spent this morning editing in the garden--pruning the nandina (aka heavenly bamboo), cutting back some Oregon Grape, and of course, weeding.

Along the way I took pictures, mainly of  sword ferns. Incidentally, the best gardening advice this year: in March, before ferns start to send up new growth, cut them back to their "stumps." They look awfully naked, but sure enough, the fronds are unfurling, en route to a robust display.

Isn't much of gardening really about editing? Moving plants from here to there, thinning, pruning, shaping, defining. Adding, subtracting, creating frames, mini-vistas, intimate spaces.

It started raining after lunch, and I got out the camera again and shot some frames of raindrops on a  window to the back yard.

Turned out I had 60-ish photos to download, and using Adobe's "Bridge" program that brings photos from the camera to the computer, I reviewed the images and edited out 45 of them. Gone. And with the remaining ones, more editing. Cropping, another deletion, applying various Photoshop tweaks. The editing is like gardening--much thinning, relentless pruning, creating a vantage point, creating a mood, at least sometimes. And often, less turns out to be more.

Glad I got the garden editing done before the rain. And since I couldn't be outside, I felt less guilty playing around with pictures.

Recommendations

Wednesday, April 19, 2006. For a change of pace, I've got a few recommendations I wanted to pass along:
1. Maya Lin's upcoming show, "Systematic Landscapes" at the Henry Gallery. Opening reception is this Friday Night. Shiela Farr, the art critic for the Seattle Times was right on is saying, "She doesn't create objects so much as experiences." The photo to the right is a Lin design. It's a "fish cleaning station" at Cape Disappointment and is part of the Confluence Project, which inspired by the the Lewis and Clark Expedition

2. Mel Curtis's revamped web site. Mel is a nationally known photographer whose work I love. Wide-ranging in subject matter, evocative and full of emotion. Clink here for Melcurtis.com

3. Another photographer whose  work  I also love--and who  shot our wedding--is  Doug Plummer. Doug does a blog called "Dispatches" that I follow regularly. It's well-written and eclectic in scope. Click here for Dougplummer.blogs.com

4. William Trevor's short stories. Whenever he has a story in the New Yorker, I always take it in. I took along one of his collections, "After Rain" on our recent safari to Vancouver Island.The book jacket describes the stories  His stories of love, loss, relationships, are wonderfully nuanced. A reminder to me that I often read not for information, but for a feeling.

5. Speaking of the New Yorker, If you can get your hands on the March 27 issue, please do. Here's a quote from Salon.com: "Consider this a very personal recommendation, from someone who is not usually in the business of telling people to shell out for other publications: Go out and buy this week's New Yorker, the one dated March 27, 2006, with a drawing of a baby in a barbed-wire crib on the cover. In it, you'll find one of the saddest, funniest, loveliest stories you've read in a very long time." The story, called "Our Alice is by Calvin Trillin, and it's about his late wife.

OK, enough recommendations for now. Cheers.

Vancouver Island Miscellany

Sunday, April 16, 2006. Surprise discoveries are the best. Take Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. Last weekend, we arrived in Victoria quite late on Friday night.  Saturday morning we spotted the Cathedral a few blocks from our hotel, and decided to wander in. And  a good thing we did. Marvelous stained glass--both modern and old. This phrase from "The "Self-Guide for Visitors" made me smile: "Please converse in quiet tones in order to avoid disturbing those attending services." Do I detect a British influence...?

There was a series of glass panels, each illustrating an industry or activity. A bit unusual, but quite delightful. Took photos of each of them.

Moving up the coast, on the inland side, en route to our turn-off to the west coast, we checked out the little burg of Chemainus. Here's a town that used art--murals, actually--to successfully bring in tourists. There are over 30 large murals on the sides of buildings, all over town. Very engaging.

Crossing the Island takes about 3 hours. Heading north to the village of Tofino, one goes through the Pacific Rim National Reserve. The road emerged at the ocean at Long Beach where a dozen kayakers and surfers caught the rollers.  Tofino is billed at the best surfing spot in Canada, and Clayoquot Sound, like the Broken Islands of Barkley Sound,  is a draw for kayakers.

To see a gallery of pictures, please check out the "Sightseeing" section of my web site.

Wild Coast

Saturday, April 15, 2006. The West coast of Vancouver Island is a wild and beautiful place. In four days I took well over 400 photos, many of them from a 4-seater float plane. The two hour flight was an early birthday present from Connie.

We headed north, following the coast which is ragged as ripped paper and studded with small islands. Dipping inland a bit, we circled over "Cougar Annie's Garden" where Annie homesteaded and lived into her 90s. She started a series of gardens and sold the seeds around the world. Married three times, she is reputed to have shot the first two husbands, and run off the third. Not a woman to be trifled with...

Jason our pilot, wanted to make sure we saw Grey Whales. The whales are migrating from Baja to Alaska and we saw several groups of 3-4 whales. Jason would put the plane into a tight bank as we circled around for good photos. Got a tad queasy and wondered if he had any of those paper bags... But the symptoms stayed low-key.

With the pressure of shooting quickly, I failed to notice that I had the manual, not auto-focus setting on on my 100-400 zoom lens. So all the shots were blurry. Fortunately, for other shots I had my usual 28-135 lens on. A painful lesson, hopefully never to be repeated.

We swung inland and glided onto a large, very calm lake in Strathcona Provincial Park. It was like landing on cotton batting. The lake is only accessible by plane. Jason said he often flies in to camp and fish. It was soooooo quiet... Nearby, two eagles sat on a high snag.

Jason was a great tour guide, and had a wealth of stories about his adventures of flying at night, in fog,  and doing rescues of injured loggers. But whether you see the coast from the air, or on the beaches, it's a gorgeous place.

Saturday at SAM

April 1, 2006. Spent an engaging two hours this afternoon at  SAM (Seattle Art Museum) in Volunteer Park. Went specifically to see the "Orchid Pavilion" exhibit of Chinese art from the University of Michigan Art Museum.

Early Chinese painting was usually done on scrolls, tapestries or fans. The brushwork is exquisite, the detail, amazing. And it's the details that pull you in, draw you closer for a good look . There was an elderly couple that was looking intently at a tapestry. As I  came closer, I saw one of them peering through a magnifying glass. Wished I'd had one!

Another exhibit--"Discovering Buddhist Art-Seeking the Sublime"--also caught our attention.

With the temporary closure of the downtown SAM, the Volunteer Park site is the only SAM location until downtown re-opens in the Spring of 2007. The main lobby is an airy place with tables for coffee, wine, beer, snacks. On three walls are pieces of some seriously old sculpture. Reminded me of the exterior of some of the temples I visited in India. It's a restful spot to ease museum feet.

Outside the museum is a large Calder that will eventually move to the new Olympic Sculpture Park. In the meantime, it's an odd juxtaposition with the Buddhas and Shivas inside.

Incidentally, the Orchid Pavilion exhibit concludes tomorrow. Hurry on over.